Safety pin



Dec. 13, 1949 D. L. DODDS 2,491,301

SAFETY PIN Filed Dec 26, 1946 Patented Dec. 13, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE SAFETY PIN Dan Leo Dodds, Texas City, Tex.

Application December 2.6, 1946, Serial No. 718,438

1 Claim.

This invention relates to a safety pin and has particular relation to a safety fastener for fabric and similar articles.

An object of the present invention is to provide a fastener of the character described wherein provision is made for guarding the sharp point of the pin to the end that the user will not be injured.

It is another object of the present invention to provide novel means for easily and accurately guiding the point into the guard.

A further object of the present invention is to provide a safety pin, or fastener, of the character described which is composed of a single piece of non-corrosive resilient material which, by virtue of its novel construction, will not injure the fabric upon being closed.

A still further feature of the present invention resides in the provision of a safety pin, or fastener, of the character described which is free of crevices wherein foreign matter might collect.

Other objects and advantages will be apparent from the following description which is illustrated by the accompanying drawings, wherein:

Figure 1 is a side view of the fastener.

Figure 2 is a plan view.

Figure 3 is an end view.

Figure 4 is a sectional view taken on 4-4 of Figure 1.

Figure 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of Figure 1.

Figure 6 is a fragmentary side view of a slightly modified form of the invention.

Figure '7 is a fragmentary, side view showing anotherembodiment of the tensioning means.

Figure 8 is a cross-sectional view taken on the line 88 of Figure 6, and

Figure 9 is a fragmentary, perspective view of the form shown in Figure 1.

Referring now more particularly to the drawings wherein like numerals of reference designate the same parts in each of the figures, the numeral I designates the pointed arm of the safety pin and the numeral 2 designates the opposing cross bar. They are connected by an inwardly directed, substantially U-shaped loop 3. This loop, as shown in Figure 7, is of a slightly different configuration from that shown in Figure 1, but they are provided for the same purpose, that is to provide the required resilience for the pointed arm I.

The arm I, the loop 3 and the cross bar 2 are formed of the same flexible wire of the required resilience.

The arm I terminates in a point 4 and opposite the line 2 this point the bar 2 is bent to the required angle forming a guide 5.

Beyond the guide 5 this end of the wire is retracted, and the retracted portion is formed with similar diverging bends 6, I5 which are connected by a loop I.

The loop 1 forms a stirrup to receive the point 4 of the arm I and the free end of the wire of one bend E terminates closely against the opposing bend 6, as shown in Figure 5, forming an acute angle therewith and providing a shield in which the point 4 seats when the pin is in closed, or active position.

In use, with the safety pin in open position, as shown in Figure l, the arm I may be inserted through the fabric or other material to be secured and pressure is then applied to the bar 2 and arm I to move them together so that the point 4 will engage the side of the guide 5, as shown in Figure 1, and upon release of the pressure the tension of the loop 3 will cause the point to move between the diverging bends 6 and seat in the shield with the arm resting in the stirrup I to relieve the point 4 of the full pressure. It will be noted that in moving the arm to closed position the point will engage the guide 5 to prevent the arm from passing beyond the stirrup but will be accurately guided to closed position.

It will be noted from an inspection of Figure 4 that the passageway for the arm between the diverging bends 6, 6 is slightly restricted abovethe stirrup I so that in order that the point 4 may be fully seated in said shield a slight pressure will be required to force the arm through said restriction into the stirrup and this restriction will prevent said point from being accidentally disengaged from the shield. The inward bends of the parts 6, 6 are indicated by the numerals 9, 9 and the restriction formed is indicated by the numeral ID.

The forms shown in Figures 6 and 8 include the pointed arm I and the opposing cross-bar 2, as shown in Figure 1, and which are connected by an inwardly directed, substantially U-shaped loop 3a, as shown in Figure 7. The arm I terminates in a point 4, and opposite this point the bar 2 is bent to the required angle forming a guide 5. Beyond the guide 5 the end of the wire is retracted, and the retracted portion is formed with similar diverging bends 6a, 6a, which are connected by a loop Ia, said bends Ba diverging slightly as indicated in Figure 8.

The drawings and description are illustrative merely while the broad principle of the invention will be defined by the appended claim.

What I claim is:

A safety pin formed of a single piece of resilient wire and comprising, an arm pointed at one end, a cross bar, a yieldable loop connecting one end of the cross bar to the other end of said arm, the other end of the cross bar being bent over toward the arm and forming a point guide, the extremity of the bent over portion being retracted and formed into similar diverging bends which are connected by a loop which forms a stirrup to 10 receive the arm and the free end of the retracted portion terminating closely against the opposing bend and forming an acute angle therewith and providing a shield to receive said point, said guide being positioned to engage the pointed end of the arm upon movement of said arm transversely relative to the stirrup to guide said arm and point 4 into the stirrup and shield respectively, the diverging bends being slightly restricted above the stirrup, said restriction forming means to prevent the inadvertent disengagement of the point from the shield.

DAN LEO DODDS.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 404,003 Herbert et a1 May 28, 1889 551,906 McKeand et al Dec. 24, 1895 1,208,582 Lally Dec. 12, 1916 1,724,477 Harris et al. Aug. 13, 1929 

